Dinner at Johnny's
by Nibiru-Mul
Summary: After their mothers become friends, Daniel Larusso and Johnny Lawrence are seeing each other again. Daniel and Lucille go to Johnny's house for dinner. Even better, Daniel sees that Johnny is now willing to be his friend. Now expanded!


_**DISCLAIMER: **__I do not own Johnny, Daniel, or most of the other characters in The Karate Kid. They are property of some studio. I do, however, own a few characters, such as Johnny's mother Caroline and his sister Diana._

_This takes place after the events in the third movie. By now, Johnny has stopped bullying Daniel. I figured that the two could become friends since the problem between them had been resolved._

_This story is rated K+ for use of the word "crap" and minor references to drugs._

* * *

**THE ESTATE OF NIBIRU-MUL PRESENTS**

**DINNER AT JOHNNY'S**

It was a sunny day in Reseda. The sun was shining brightly, the sky was clear, and there was no wind to speak of.

Daniel Larusso was relaxing in his room. He was lying on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, watching the fan blowing around and around in a circle.

Daniel was so glad that he had finally gotten out of that situation with Kreese. He was still friends with Mr. Miyagi, and the two saw each other every so often. Now Daniel's mother Lucille had finally come back from New Jersey, after that whole ordeal with her sick uncle. She had bought a house in Reseda with money that she had saved up. Daniel decided to move back in with her.

"Finally," Daniel said to himself. "I can relax after that year of craziness."

But then Daniel was interrupted. His mother wanted to see him.

"Daniel!" called Lucille. "Can you come down?"

"Sure, Mom!" said Daniel.

Daniel went downstairs and saw Lucille in the living room. She was sitting on the couch, reading one of her magazines. She looked at her son.

"Hey, Mom," said Daniel.

"Hi," said Lucille. "I got back from work 20 minutes ago."

"What did you want to talk to me about?" asked Daniel.

"I got an invitation from this nice woman," said Lucille. "She wants to invite us over to her house for dinner tomorrow."

"Dinner?" said Daniel. "That's wonderful! Who is it?"

"It was a woman who I had met at the gym two weeks ago," said Lucille. "Her name is Caroline Lawrence. She moved to this house two blocks away. She thought it would be better for her and her teenage son. You might know who her son is. I think his name's John."

"Johnny?" asked Daniel. "He was my opponent at the tournament. I haven't seen him in months. Doesn't he live in...you know...the nicer part of town?"

"Not anymore," said Lucille, "Caroline recently became a widow, and she had to sell her old house."

"I didn't know that," said Daniel. "It seems sad that she lost her husband."

"She's actually relieved about it," said Lucille. "Her husband hadn't been treating her well. The two were separated for a few months. Now that he died six weeks ago, Caroline has been able to get on with her life. She told me yesterday that her daughter graduated from college and is looking to buy a house in Santa Clarita."

"What about Johnny?" asked Daniel.

"He says that he misses you," said Lucille. "He wants to see you again. Don't worry, this isn't a trick; Johnny learned his lesson and he is genuinely sorry for the way he used to treat you."

"Well," said Daniel, "I do remember him apologizing when I last saw him."

"Looking forward to it?" asked Lucille.

"Yes," said Daniel.

Daniel and Lucille got ready for the big day. Daniel went to the mall to buy a new shirt. Lucille went to the beauty salon to get her hair done. She also called Johnny's mother to find a good time to arrive at the latter's house. The two settled on 5 PM.

The next day came. Daniel and Lucille arrived at the new house. Daniel was dressed in a white collared shirt with thin black stripes and blue jeans. His mother was dressed in a light blue shirt, white pants, and pearls around her neck.

The two looked at the house. It was a brown one-floor house with a garage on the left side. There were flowers in the front of the house.

"Nice house," said Daniel. "I didn't expect it to be this small, though."

Daniel and his mother walked up to the door. Lucille rang the doorbell.

A woman opened the door. She was of average height, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a pink shirt and beige pants. She wore pearl earrings in her ears. Around her neck was a gold necklace with a sapphire in it.

"Good to see you again, Lucille," said the woman. She turned to Daniel. "You must be Daniel. Johnny has told me a lot about you. I'm his mother Carrie."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Lawrence," said Daniel. "Where is he?"

"Johnny is in his room," said Carrie. "He's looking forward to seeing you. Come on in."

"Thanks, Carrie," said Lucille.

Everyone went inside the house. Carrie closed the door once everyone was inside. They were in the foyer, which had white walls.

"Okay," said Carrie, "to the left of the front door is the living room. From there you can access the kitchen and the dining room. Go straight ahead and there are our rooms. Ahead will lead you to my room, and to the right is Johnny's room."

"Can I go to Johnny's room?" asked Daniel.

"Of course," said Carrie. She called out to her son. "Johnny! You have a visitor!"

"Sure thing, Mom!" said Johnny.

Daniel walked straight ahead. He made a right and went inside the room. The room was painted a light teal. Across from the entrance was Johnny's dresser, which had all sorts of knick knacks. To the right of it was the closet. There was also a desk in the room. And there was also a bed, with a zebra print blanket and a black pillow and sheets. Johnny Lawrence was sitting on his bed. He was wearing a mint green polo shirt, blue shorts, and white socks. On his right foot was an ankle brace.

"Hi, Daniel," said Johnny. "My mom was saying that we'd be getting a visitor tonight."

"How are you doing, Johnny?" asked Daniel.

"Okay," said Johnny.

"Why are you wearing an ankle brace?" asked Daniel.

"I sprained my ankle almost a week ago," said Johnny. "I was taking a walk at the mall with Bobby, and I fell down the stairs. I can walk a little, but I won't be able to go out for a while. Well, not without Mom."

"Your mom seems very nice," said Daniel.

"Thanks," said Johnny. "She's amazing. How have you been?"

"I've been good," said Daniel.

"I heard about that whole thing with Mr. Miyagi," said Johnny. "You went to Japan? That's amazing! I wish I could go."

"Yeah," said Daniel, shrugging. "How have you been?"

"There have been a lot of changes," said Johnny. "After Mom and Dad separated, we went through some financial problems. Mom had to give up stuff, including the motorcycle. And then Dad died, so now our old house is being sold. But there have been a few positives: I did manage to complete rehab."

"You mean...?" said Daniel.

"Yep," said Johnny. "No more smoking joints for me."

"That's great," said Daniel. "You're still young. You shouldn't waste your life with crap like that."

"I am quite happy to realize that," said Johnny. "I have my whole life ahead of me."

Johnny felt there was something else to tell Daniel.

"You might find this hard to believe," said Johnny. "I also gave up karate."

Daniel was surprised.

"You gave up karate?" asked Daniel. "That's shocking!"

"I wanted to," said Johnny. "Maybe someday I'll start doing karate again. But for now, I don't want to do it. Plus Kreese wasn't teaching it properly, so I'm afraid if I ever start lessons, I'll have to redo the whole thing."

Daniel looked at the stuff on Johnny's dresser. He saw that there were a couple of wooden ships painted in various colors. There was also a sketchbook and a pencil box.

"What are those for?" asked Daniel.

"I was about to get to that," said Johnny. "After I gave up riding motorcycles and doing drugs, I found some more productive hobbies. When I was a kid, I loved arts and crafts. But Kreese did not encourage creativity, so I stopped. But now I have resumed doing it - and it's very fun! I'll show you some of my drawings."

"That would be great," said Daniel. "I'm sure you are a very talented artist."

"I think so," said Johnny, blushing. "Take a look at my sketchbook and see for yourself."

Daniel opened Johnny's sketchbook. There were pictures of various things - animals, cars, ships, mountains, and people. Daniel was impressed at the amount of detail in the drawings.

"You drew these?" Daniel asked Johnny.

"Yes," said Johnny.

"They're impressive," said Daniel. "I can draw too, but not anything like that!"

After looking at that, Daniel saw a few cards on Johnny's desk.

"Those are gifts from friends," said Johnny. "My old buddies at the Cobra Kai dojo gave me a card. So did a few of my old friends that I had revived my friendship with. I even got one from Ali Mills!"

"That was nice of her," said Daniel. "How is she?"

"She's doing good," said Johnny. "She kinda regrets leaving you for that football jerk. She hopes that you and her can still be friends."

"Yeah," said Daniel. "Maybe I'll give Ali a call when I get the chance."

"Mom's making lasagna," said Johnny. "Do you like that?"

"You bet!" said Daniel.

Daniel and Johnny talked more. Eventually, Carrie called the two for dinner. Johnny needed some help getting up, so Daniel decided to help him walk to the dining room.

Carrie had set the table. There was lasagna for everyone, as well as bread on the side. There was also some Coca-Cola for everyone to drink.

Everyone started eating.

"Johnny," said Lucille, "I haven't seen you in a long time. How have things been?"

"Okay, Mrs. Larusso," said Johnny. "I've been hanging out with my friends. Unfortunately, I sprained my ankle, so I don't get to go out much now."

"That's too bad," said Lucille.

Daniel looked at Carrie's necklace.

"Where did you get that necklace, Mrs. Lawrence?" he asked her. "It looks nice on you."

"Thanks, Daniel," said Carrie. "That necklace was a present from my aunt. Johnny nearly destroyed it last year, but a few months ago he went to get it fixed. It's so wonderful that Johnny has gone back to his old self. Now we can get along again, and we've bonded together in a way that we haven't in years. It keeps me happy while I'm dealing with all these changes."

"I think Mr. Miyagi might have had something to do with it," said Lucille. "He stood up for Johnny against Kreese."

"I never want to see that Kreese man again," said Carrie. "After what he did to my son, I wouldn't even spit in his direction. He can go sit on a pin."

"So," said Daniel, "what else has been going on?"

"My older sister graduated from college," said Johnny. "Her name's Diana, and she is looking to buy a house nearby. She saw a few homes for sale in Santa Clarita. There's one that she has her eye on. It's kind of like this one."

"Where is she now?" asked Daniel.

"She's living with a friend," said Johnny.

Daniel turned back to Carrie.

"This is delicious!" said Daniel. "Where did you get it?"

"Thank you," said Carrie. "I got it from a cookbook."

"Are you making anything for dessert, Mrs. Lawrence?" asked Daniel.

"I bought some orange ice cream," said Carrie. "It's Johnny's favorite flavor."

"What a coincidence," said Lucille. "That's Daniel's favorite flavor as well!"

"Diana doesn't like it that much," said Carrie, "so we can't always get it. But Johnny is pleased to have it."

After dinner, Johnny decided to show Daniel the rest of the house. Daniel held Johnny's hand to prevent him from falling down. It was hard, since Johnny was bigger than him. But Daniel was just glad that Johnny was finally being nice to him after all those days of Johnny bullying him.

First was the backyard. Johnny stayed on the porch since he didn't want to get hurt. Daniel looked around. There was a garden with flowers and vegetables in it. In the flower bed, Daniel saw roses, tulips, lobelias, peonies, and violets. Johnny said that his mom was proud of her yellow roses. There were tomatoes, carrots, and eggplants growing in the vegetable garden.

"Your garden is impressive," said Daniel. "My mom's never had anything like it."

"Mom likes gardening," said Johnny, "but she also gets help from the gardener who comes to our house."

The next room was the living room. The room was white, with chairs, plants, and a TV.

"Want to watch TV?" asked Johnny.

"Sure," said Daniel.

The two of them watched TV for about half an hour.

After that, they explored the back room, the guest bedrooms, the basement, and the garage. Then the two went back to Johnny's room.

"I'm getting tired," said Johnny. "I think I'll sit on my bed again."

Daniel pulled up a chair and sat near Johnny.

"I didn't get a chance to say this to you," said Johnny, "but I really regret the way I had treated you when you first moved to California."

"I know you do," said Daniel.

"This was so hard to accept," said Johnny. "I couldn't believe that I had been so cruel to you. I didn't consider your feelings. But by then it was too late to realize how serious my behavior was."

"It was serious," said Daniel. "But I see that it's over now."

"I want to make it up to you," said Johnny. "I want to be your friend from now on...if that's okay with you."

"Sure," said Daniel. "Always could use more friends."

"I used to think Kreese was my friend," said Johnny. "Those days at the Cobra Kai seemed great, since I could never impress my father. Dad was always dragging me to stupid parties at the country club, parading me around in front of snobs. I felt like I didn't belong there. And at the dojo, I felt that I had a sense of belonging. But I felt that eventually, Kreese's teachings had made me like those snobs - and worse, a monster. I had lost everything - my kindness, my girlfriend, and even my relationship with my mom. And the last thing I worked so hard to get back while you were gone."

"Don't worry," said Daniel. "It's all over. You will never have to worry about Kreese again."

"You really think so?" asked Johnny.

"I know so," said Daniel. "Kreese is pretty humiliated by now. He left town, and never wants to come back."

"Wow," said Johnny. "It must have been because of Mr. Miyagi. Miyagi seems like an amazing person. You're lucky to have a friend like him."

"I agree," said Daniel.

"I still feel a bit awkward about my father, though," said Johnny. "I know people should love their parents, but I couldn't love Dad. He was not a good person. He acted nice in front of the country club people, but he was mean behind people's backs. I never thought I'd become like him - but I did. Dad was quite violent too. He beat me up the same way that I beat you up: without mercy. Mom tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen. He would beat her too. I was so happy when she finally got a separation from him. And six weeks ago, he died. I was silent throughout the funeral. All I could think of was the hope that lay in the future."

"That is quite unpleasant," said Daniel. "My own father was very kind and generous. It's a shame that your father wasn't."

"I heard about your father," said Johnny. "It made me jealous that your father was good while mine was bad. I made a promise to myself: when I have children of my own, I will treat them with love and be understanding of their emotions."

"I think that is the right thing to do," said Daniel.

"The positive changes to my behavior feel wonderful," said Johnny. "I feel that all the love I had repressed has come back, and now it is stronger than ever."

"Well," said Daniel, "it seems that you've learned your lesson, and I can see that you have changed for the better. That is why I would be more than happy to be your friend, Johnny Lawrence."

"You really mean it?" asked Johnny.

"I do," said Daniel. "Let's shake on it. To new-found friends!"

Daniel and Johnny shook hands.

Soon, it was time for dessert.

"Daniel! Johnny!" called Carrie. "Time for dessert!"

"Let's have some ice cream," said Johnny.

Daniel and Johnny went into the kitchen to eat ice cream together. Carrie and Lucille looked upon them happily.

"I'm so glad they have finally become friends," said Lucille.

"Me too," said Carrie.

Later, when it was dark, Daniel and Lucille were getting ready to leave. They were all in the living room. Everyone was standing except for Johnny, who was sitting on the sofa.

"It was very nice of you to stop by, Lucille," said Carrie.

"Anytime, Carrie!" said Lucille. "I see that Daniel and Johnny have become friends."

"It makes me happy to see that," said Carrie.

Daniel shook Johnny's hand goodbye.

"You can call me anytime," said Daniel. "It was nice getting to know the real you."

"I think so too," said Johnny. "Bye!"

Daniel and Lucille went home. Johnny hopped inside and went back to his room.

**THE END**


End file.
